The Delinquent's Haven

Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty-Four

 

          "Haven?" She heard as her eyes opened painfully.  Struggling to work her body correctly, Haven groaned in protest when her body wasn't responding to the demands she was screaming in her head.  The only reason she was starting to panic was because she couldn't feel anything at all and it was scaring her.

          "Haven, if you can hear me squeeze my hand," the voice instructed.  She did as it said and the person sighed in relief.

          "That's good news.  She didn't loose any mobility from what we can see," the voice was becoming clearer.  It sounded like a man's voice, but somehow, Haven wasn't exactly sure.  Then, it became obvious as the voice mumbled.

          "Well, we'll come and check in on here throughout the rest day and over night.  She should be fine for now, but if she needs anything, just hit the nurse's button," the voice was saying before she heard footsteps fading away from her.

          "Haven?"  A frantic voice said her name.  It was taking awhile for Haven to open her eyes, but she finally got it down after another try.  When she didn't see anything at first, she was starting to shake, afraid something happened to cause her to go blind. 

          Then, there was a blinding light, which caused Haven to slam them closed almost immediately after the light shone in her eyes.  She opened them more cautiously and this time she could make out shapes.  It took her, what seemed like, another ten minutes before her vision cleared.

          The first thing she saw were the ceiling tiles.  Then, Jackson's face appeared.  He had gone completely white and there were what looked like bruises and cuts covering the skin on his face.  His hair was disheveled and it looked like he had been pulling on it for awhile as it stuck out on the sides.

          He helped Haven sit up, and when he grabbed her, she noticed there were needles in her arms and bandages covering her body.  Looking around, she saw Maragret sleeping on a chair in the corner of the room.

          She started moving her head around, looking toward the door.  It wasn't long before Haven's eyes landed on a very worried Darin.  Her breathing caught in her throat, causing her to violently cough.  From what it looked like, he hadn't slept in weeks.

          "Haven," he breathed but didn't move.

          She didn't understand it.  Why wasn't he coming to her?  Why wasn't he helping her sit up?  Why was she in a room, with bandages and needles covering her body?  What the hell was going on?

          "Where are we?"  She asked.  It was then that she heard her own voice.  It wasn't more than a hoarse whisper, and her throat stung as she spoke.  It felt like someone was shoving a white hot branding iron to the walls of her throat and pulling down before raking her raw with the tip of twenty different knives.

          "We're in the hospital, Haven . . . "  Jackson murmured through a concerned sounding voice.  She looked at him like he was an idiot, not able to understand why she was the one in the bed, now, and not Darin.

          "Do you remember what happened?"  Darin's voice suddenly asked, still sounding gentle and drenched with worry.  Looking over, she caught a flicker of anger in his eyes and shook her head from side to side.  Then, she watched as he slowly walked over to her and sat down on the edge of her bed.

          "Haven, do you remember the fire?"  He asked, his voice much more gentle than it had been when he was across the room.  She shook her head furiously; she didn't know what he was talking about.